![Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/356a4830-f879-4d91-b0a7-7cba1d88670f.jpg/r0_231_5200_3166_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Anthony Albanese has decried the "real scandal" of the public service as the "rissoling" of public servants who return as consultants to give the same advice for twice the price plus fees.
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The Prime Minister's dismay at the consultancy scandal came in a testy radio interview on Wednesday in which he revealed he had the secretaries of all departments over for dinner at the Lodge on Monday night.
There was also an intense exchange with host Ben Fordham over the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament when Mr Albanese accused him of using quotes from the "no" pamphlet. The Prime Minister said it would be "dumb" to expect outcomes for the most disadvantaged group in Australia will get better without the Voice.
"We need better outcomes. We can't just be doing things the same way and expect different results. That's a definition of being dumb, if we just keep doing things the same way. We need to do things better," he told Sydney radio 2GB.
"We need to listen to Indigenous Australians about matters that affect them. We're having a crack here."
Mr Albanese addressed the Victorian government's decision to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games after advice on the cost of the games blew out to $7 billion, as well as the "big four" consultants scandal.
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Asked if he was doing something about blown-out consultancy in Australia, the Prime Minister said: "We are doing something about it."
"There's been a real decline in the capacity of the public service," he declared.
"I had dinner on Monday night at the Lodge with the secretaries of every department. They are all conscious about it.
"I think the robodebt scandal highlights some issues with politics but also there are some issues with public servants there."
It is understood it is the second time the secretaries have dined with Mr Albanese at the Lodge.
The Prime Minister said capacity and culture needs to change.
"We need to be able to have a capacity to ask the public service for advice and to get it direct from the public service," he said. "There's been a culture develop where any question gets referred off to one of these consultants."
"We need to do better."
After an interjection about the billions of dollars earned by consultancy firms, Mr Albanese then detailed what he regarded as a "real scandal".
"People who were public servants 15 years ago, and no criticism of the individuals, but they get rissoled out of the public service," he said.
"They then are essentially then still giving advice to the government earning twice as much and getting fees to consultancies on top of that.
"Now the public service is an honourable profession. We need to honour it. We need to enrich it and we need to make sure that governments can get the right advice."
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